THE YOUNG BOTANISTS
JOSH DAVID, CHARLES RENFRO & ROBERT HAMMOND
Since it opened in June, the High Line park, the strip of repurposed elevated railroad track that cuts through Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, has ushered in a new era of public spaces in New York. As the wild grasses grow on the elevated urban prairie, civic pride blossoms with it. But 10 years ago, the park existed solely in the vision of two men, David (left), a writer, and Hammond (right), a painter. By ceaseless agitation, organization, and fundraising, the two enlisted the help of celebrities (Harvey Keitel, Martha Stewart), designers (Diane von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein), and finally the city. Translating this seemingly quixotic vision into a reality fell to Renfro (center) and his architectural firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Their vision of the abandoned tracks reborn—threaded with flowers and peaceful glades, an amphitheater looking up 10th Avenue and wooden lounge chairs facing the Hudson—turned David and Hammond’s dream into a reality beyond what they could have imagined.
